Feeding molten glass



K. E. PEILER FEEDING MOLTEN GLASS April 22, 1930.

Filed Nov. 7, I19224` 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 22, 1930. 4K PEER 1,755,792

FEEDING MOLTEN GLASS v Filed Nov, '7, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet Z i e @Q25 fmy Patented Apr. 193i);

UNITE!) PVA-rtm1* :KARLv E'. PEILER, OFQWST HARTFORD, cONNEOTiUT,Ass-IGNOR fro HARTFORD@ EMPIRE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNEGTIOUT, Acom?oRA'rLON on DELAWARE y, e .Application medllltovembe'r i Myinvention relates to the art of A'feeding molten glass incompact,.homogeneous 'mold er glass-shaping Operations.

n The Objectof my invention 1s t'oprovide simple and elective system offeeding' glass According to the presentinvention, the' glass is placedin a container, which may be a melting furnace, a forehearth connectedtoa melting furnace, or any other suitable receptacle. The container isprovided with a lateral discharge outlet submerged by the molten glass,and a dischargespout is connected to receive the glass through thislateral outlet and to deliver the glass through a downwardl ly openingorifice outside of the glass container.l An impeller is mounted 'toreciprocate in the glass in the container toward and 2 from the lateraldischarge outlet, so as to ap- -ply periodic expelling impulses totheglass at the outlet, these expelling impulses being alternated withretractive impulses produced by the movement of the impeller away fromthe 3Ooutlet. The impeller thus causes glass to bedischargedperiodically from the outer end of the spout, and mold charges aresevered from the discharged glass by means of suitable shears.

Other novel features of the present invention relate to the specicconstruction of the spoutas a closed chanrlel which is curved outwardlyand downwardly and may be of 4 slightly decreasing diameter; theprovision of vated temperature; and the constructionand manner ofoperation of the impeller. v These and other features of my inventionwill be accompanying drawings, lin which:

Figure '.1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view Ot a glass feederconstructed in accordance with my invention;

Fi 2 is a front elevational view of the struc ure shown in Fig. 1;

' charges suitable for molding, pressing or otli'-` means foi-keepingthe spout at a suitably 4eleexplained in detail in 'connection with thefifi MOLTEN. GLAss 7, .1924. serial No. 748,306.

' Fig. 3 isa longitudinal vertical' sectional @View showing a modifiedconstruction;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal` vertical sectional -view showing a vfurthermodification;

Fig. 5 is a `plan view'of the shear mechanism shown in Fig. 4; and fFig. 6 is a partial vertical sectional View showing a still furthermodification.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the numeri al 2 indicates a portion ofareceptacle for molten glass, in" which the glass level is shown at 3.The receptacle 2 has a lateral outlet,ad jacent towhich is seta spoutblock 4 which may suitably consist of a rectangularblock of lire clay,and which may have an outwardly laring'upper portion, as shown at 5.

The spout block 4 carries a spout 6, which, as shown, is formed integralwiththe block 4, but which may be formed separate from the block 4 andattached thereto in any suitable manner. The spout block 4 rests 'upon asupport 7, which may be one of the channels forming the iron work of themelting furnace or the other receptacle, and clamps 8 are provided fo'rsecuring the spout block 4 in position against the outer wall of thereceptacle 2.

e The bore of the spout 6 communicates with lthe'glassin the receptacle2, and curves'outsuitable shear-structure will be described below.

' For the purpose of maintaining the spout 6 at the proper temperatureto convey the glass without substantially chilling it, the spout may beenclosed in a heating chamber 11, suitably constructed of refractoryinsulating blocks, resting on suitable supports l2.

Flame from a burner 13 may be directed into the spout chamber 1l, orthis chamber may be otherwise heated or cooled, as desired.

In. order to control the, passage of glass through the spout 6, animpeller 15 is mounted within the receptacle 2 and is arranged to bereciprooated periodically toward and away from the inlet end ofthe spout6. As shownin Figs. 1 and 2, the impeller 15 is suspended from a chuck16 carriedby a hanger 17 which is adapted to swing upon a horizontalpivot 18, and is reciprocated lengthwise by any suit- 'able means, suchfor example, as atcam 19, a

cam roller 20, and a spring 21. The impeller is provided with a shanky22 extending j through the chuck 16 and having a screwthreal ed portion23 to which is applied an adjusting nut 24. The shank 22 may be clampedv in adjusted 4position by means o'f set screws 25,-and by thisarrangement the impeller l5 may be adjusted accurately with respect tothe inlet opening ofthe spout 6. The impell ler may be cooled bymeans ofair, water or other fluid which is circulated through the interior ofthe impeller by means of suitable pipes, one of which is shownv at 26.A

The parts should preferably be so' adjusted that the working surface 27of the impeller is .parallel to and 's aced from the inner surface, ofthe spout b eck/4 when the impeller is in the forward position shown inFig. 1. The movement of the impeller away from its seat may be either ina curved path, as herein shown, or lmay be made rectilinear by mountingthe impeller on suitable slides, instead of rocking 1t about a fixedpivot. It is not believed necessary to illustrate thismodifiedconstruction herein.

In operating the apparatus described above,

the glass is brought to the discharge outlet regular cycles, eachdischarged mass of glass being cut olf. by the' shears 10. -The severingoperation may take place either before, during orafter the retractionmentioned abo-ve,

' and each mold charge, when severed by the shears, drops into a mold.or upon a chute or other transfer-device which conveysthe glass to themold.

`The space between the impeller 15 and the 'portion of the spo-ut blockthat is located above the inlet end of spout enlarges upwardly fromAsubstantially the level of the upper edge of the spoutinlet to a planewell above the glass line by reason of thev outward -flare orinclination of the portion 5 of the spout block, thus'obviating suchcompacting or pressing of glass between the body of the impeller andthe-upper-portion of the spout block on th'eforward movement of theimpeller, as would tendto cause strings and blisters in the mold chargessubseqitently formed .of such glass.v

The retardation or retraction of the glass, produced by the rearwardmovement of the; impeller may be sufficient to produce an attenuation orneckingin of the glassjustbef low the outlet of the spout; or theretardation may only check thedischarge of the glass, Withoutattenuating the glass prior-to severance, and maybe continuedsufficiently to support or lift the glass abovev the severing planewhile the shears are closed.v

The amplitudeof the stroke o-f theimpeller, and also its speed ofmovement, may be adjusted to-vary the amount of glass propelled throughthe spout 6 at each stroke of the impeller, and the speed of theimpeller may also be caused to vary in different parts of its cycle ofmoyement. For example, the impeller may be made to move forward morequickly than it moves rearwardly, and either the forward or the rearwardstroke may be composed :of two vor more stages, so as to produce anydesired effects. These adjustments may ,be con# veniently obtained byproviding the cam 19 with changeable or adjustable lobes by which thecontour of the cam may be changed at will to give the impeller anydesired stroke.

Fig. 3 of the drawing shows a construction which diers from that ofFigs.- 1 and 2 in that the impeller has a rounded end which enters thedischarge spout, and also in that adifferent driving arrangement isemployed. As shown in this figure, the container for the y glass isindicated at 30, and the glass in the container communicates with aspout 31 enclosed within a heated `chamber 32 which is heated by meansof a burner 33. The/spout 31 differs from the spout 6 shown in Figs. 1and 2 in that its lowerA walll 34 is inclined upwardly and provides alip or dam 35 over .forward position, as shown in Fig. 3. By

thus .entering the spout, the impeller exerts stronger propulsive andretractive'impulses upon the glass .than the form of impeller shown inFig. 1, the inlet portion of the spout acting as a well, and theimpeller cooperating With this Well after the manner of the plunger of aglass feeder of the plunger type, such as is shownV 'for example in mycopending application for Letters Patent Serial No, 683,576, filed Dec.3l, 1923.

The impeller 37 is suspended from al chuck 38 carried by a hanger 39which swings around a horizontal pivot 40-and is connected by means o fa. link 41 to a lever 42 which is pivoted at its upper end on ahorizontal pivot 43, and which carries a cam roller 44 lengaging a cam45. A spring 4,6 serves to I hold the roller 44 in contact with the cam45.

The length of the link 41 is adjustable by means of a turn-buckle 47, soas to change the forward position of the impeller. The outer end of thelink 41 is connected to the lever 42 by means of abolt 48 which is ad-,justable in a curved slot 49 that is concentric with the forward pivot50 of the link 41 Whenthe impeller is in its forwardposition. Byadjusting the' position cf the bolt 48 in the slot 49,' the amplitude ofthe stroke of the im-4 may be circulated through the impeller 37 throughsuitable pipes,` one of which is shown The apparatusof Fig. 3 operatesin the same general manner asthe apparatus of Figs. 1 and 2 which'hasalready been described, with the "addition that, at each forward strokeof the impeller, a portion of the glass is confined between the nose 37a of the impeller and the inlet portion ofthe spoutv v '31,' and theforward impulse imparted to the glass is thereby increased. Shears 52are operated `in timed relation to the movement of theimpeller 37 tosever mold charges from each discharge of glass which issues from theoutlet 36'. vOn the rearward movement of the impeller, the glass in thespout 31, is reretraction of the glass at the outlet 36, either before,during or after severance of the glass.

The structure shown in Figs. 4 and 5 resembles that cf Fig.'3 in thegeneral construction of the impeller and the spout, but differs from thepreceding figures. in the specific arrangement employed for oscillatingthe impeller. This figure also shows connections for operating; theshears in timed relation to the movement of the impeller, together withcertain other details of construction, which will be pointed out below.In Fig. 4 the numeral 55 indicates the glass container in lwhich theglass stands at the level 56. As shown, the container 55 isa forehearthwhich may be connected to a melting tank furnace, in which case asuitable gate may be provided for controlling the flow. of glass fromthe furnace into the forehearth. A stack V57 may be provided for drawingoff combustion gases from the receptacle 55, and this stack may beprovided with suitable dampers. The forehearth is shown somewhatdiagrammatically, the usual arrangements for controlling the temperatureof the glass' in the forehearth being omitted. l At the discharge end ofthe forehearth 55 is a spout 58 similar to thel spout 31 of Fig. 3,except that a removable orice ring 59 is y cam 81. 'cam 83 which,through a cam roller 84, rocks V provided at the lower end of the spout58 for changing the elfective size of the spout outlet, p

and also for ready replacement when the out-' let becomes worn. vAs inthe preceding vligures of the drawing, the spout is surrounded byaheating chamber which is indicated at 60, and is heated by means of aburner 61.

An impeller 62 having a projecting nose 63 is suspended in operativerelation to the inarm 67 is pivoted at 68 upon a stationaryv bracket 69vand is adjustable around its pivot 68 to change the vertical positionof the pivot .pin-66., and consequently the vertical positionof theimpeller 62. For the purpose of tical movement in a stationary bracket71 and the screw-threaded portion of the screw 70 extends through a nutwhich is .mounted arm 67. When the screw 70 is turned by .means of ahandle 73, the bracket arm 67 is rocked on the pivot 68, therebyadjusting the vertical position ofthe impeller 62. The impeller maalignment withthe -inlet of the spout 58, or may be displaced somewhatabove or below .this axialralignmentto com ensate for irregularities inthe flow 0f t e glass, or to produce particular effects in the dischargeof the glass. The impeller may also be adj usted laterally alongthe'shaft 66. For this purpose the hanger is held in position vby meansof collars 65a that are adjustably secured to the shaft 66 by means ofset screws 65h.

. The hanger 65 i's rocked periodically-on its pivot 66 by Ameans of alever 75, the c-uter end of which is pivctally connected to a rod 76,which is of adjustable length. The lower end of the rod 76 'isadjustably secured by thus be brought into axial thus adjusting thebracket arm 67, a vertical screw is supported and held against vervltorock in a bearing 72 carried by the bracketv y means of a bolt 77 to aslotted arm 78 which is pivoted at 79, and which carries at itsendopposite to the bolt 77 a cam roller 8O engaging an impeller cam 81. Thecam 81 isv vmounted on a shaft 82 which is vdriven continuously by meansof any suitable power connections, not shown.` .l l A compression spring95 is connected between the hanger 65 and any convenient stationarysupport and acts in opposition to the l cam 81 inreciprocatingtheimpeller 62, the

impeller being withdrawn from the outlet spout by the camv 81, and beingmoved toward the outlet spout by the spring 95, as-

sisted by the weight of the lever 75, and 'of the connections betweenthe lever 75 and the The shaft 82 also carries a shear a lever 85 upon astationary pivot 86. The

' means of a link 86a-and a universcal connec-v ing gear segments 91.

tion 87'to operate the shears 88. The' con- .struction andoperation ofthe shears are The shear blades 88 best shown in' Fig. 5. are removably4carried by arms 89 that are mounted on vertical pivots 90 and areconnected to move together by means of mesh-` One of the arms 89 1sprovidedwith a projection 92 to which is 'attached one end of the universalconnection 87. The other ari'ii89 is provided with a similar projection93, to which is attached a spring 94, which acts in opposition to thecam 83, the spring serving to close the shears 88, .and the cam servingto open the shears.

The amplitude of the stroke of the impeller 62 may be varied by changingthe position of the pivot bolt 77 in the slot 96 of the arm 78, andother variations in the amplitude and speed -of the impeller may beobtained by providing the cam 81 with removableor adjustable cam lobes,as described above.

The operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4 is similar in allrespects to that o'f the apparatus of Fig. 3, except Vas toy the ad-"justments mentioned.

Fig. 6 shows a modiiedconstructionin which the impeller may be employednot only for causing periodicdischargesof glass, but

also for the purpose 'of shutting off the dis Charge spout when it isdesired to interrupt the feeding operation. As shown in this figure, aglass container 100 communicates with a discharge spout 101, having anoriice ring 102, as in Fig. 4. An impeller 103 i-s arranged to swingtoward and from the inlet of the spout 101, and this impeller has a'lateral projection '104 at its lower end. The projection 104 is conicaland conforms to the shape of the inlet to the-spout 101, s o that whenthe impeller 103 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 6, theprojection 104 of the impeller seats in the inlet of the spout and stopsthe iow of glass. It will, of

v course, be understood that in the normal re- ,ciprocation 4of theimpeller to feed glass through the spout, the impeller isl caused tostop before it reaches the seating positionshdwn in Fig. 6. Y l

The several structuresA shown -and described4 above are intended asexamples of thefmany ways in which my invention may be carried out, andI desire that'no limitations be imposed upon my invention, except suchas areindicatedin the appended claims.

What I claim is: Y

1..Apparatus for feeding molten glass,j -comprising a container for theglass having a submerged lateral discharge outlet, an iinpeller-disposedin said container and movable periodically toward and from saidoutlet, a

spout block'mounted adjacent to said outlet, clamps for removablysecurin @block in position, a spout projecting from said said spoutblock and communicating with said outlet, sai-d spout terminating ina'downwardly opening discharge orifice, and means for severing moldcharges from the glass issuing from said orifice.

2. Apparatus for l feeding molten glass,'

comprising a container for the glass having a submerged lateraldischarge outlet, an impeller disposedA in said container and movableperiodically toward and from said outlet, a spout block mounted adjacent to said outlet, 'a spout projecting from said spout block and Yterminating in a downwardly opening outlet,

an orifice ring removably disposed adjacent to the 'outlet of saidspout, and means for severing mold charges from the glass issuing fromsaid orifice ring. i

3. Apparatus for feeding molten glass,

l comprising a container for theglass having a submerged lateraldischarge outlet, an impeller disposed in said container, means formoving said impeller periodically toward and from sai-d outlet, a spoutblock mounted adjacent to said outlet, clamps for removably securingsaid spout block in place, a spout 'projecting from said spout block andcommunicating with said outlet, the said spout beingcurved outwardl anddownwardly, and terminating in a orice,anorifice ring mountedremovablyat thewdisc'harge end of Said spout, an enclosure `surrounding saidspout, means for heating the interior of said enclosure, and shears forsevering mold charges from the glass discharged from said oriiice ring.

4. Apparatus 'for feedingv molten glass,

ownwar-dly opening comprising a container for the vglass having 4 asubmerged lateral discharge outlet, a spout communicating with saidoutlet and terminating inv adownwardly opening orifice, an impellerdisposed `in-said container andmovable periodically toward and from saidoutlet, and means for supporting and reciprocating said impeller,comprising av hanger, al

said impeller, comprisinga hanger, a vertii cally adjustable support forsaid hanger, a

lever connected to voscillate said'hanger, and

cam. operated `connections' for periodically moving said lever, shearsfoi' severing mold ,chargesfrom thev glass discharged at said spout, andcam operated means for operating said shears in timed relation to themovement of said impeller. i

- Wall directly above sai-d outlet enlarging in an upward direction.

7, Apparatus for Ieeding molten glass, comprising a container for theglass, a discharge spout having its inlet in communication with theinterior of the container below A the normal level of the glass in thecontainer and a laterally oscillatory impeller depend- A ing into theglass in the container and swingable periodically toward and' from` theoutlet, the Wall confronting said impeller above the inlet end ofy saidspout being `inclined outwardly from. the level of the spout inlet to aplane substantially above the normal level of the vglass in thecontainer.

Signed at Hartford, Conn.,

November, 1924.

L E. PEILER.

this 6th day of I

